to coming home to a lonely house
that’s not even close to empty
to cynical peeling bedroom walls
that suppress your tainted dreams

to open-minded conversation
enjoyable only when you’re ******
to whispered secrets you swore you’d never tell
because you’re better off alone

to wanting versus needing
dreaming but never doing
living for your parents
who ignore your screaming secrets

how confusion leads to therapy
and drugs lead to ***
poetry or music
escaping or feeling trapped

to mommy's high-hopes for you
or leaving her behind
to wanting to leave everything behind
to feeling left behind
to being bad at everything you do
because no one told you otherwise

to feeling hip
to feeling lost
to feeling nothing at all

to the years that float around you
echoing in your soul
composing who you are today
stronger than before

to making countless mistakes
just so you can know
the sound of your own heart break
the beauty of letting go

to breaking through your lonely home’s front door
and owning what you own